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PHILIPPI – A Barbour County official said supplies have been taken to residents who had been stranded on roads that were impassable due to flooding.
Barbour County was already in a State of Emergency after a weekend storm dumped 4 to 7 inches of rain in the county over a short time time on Saturday, and then Tuesday evening’s severe storms made things even worse. Barbour County 911 Director/OEM Deputy Director Dylan Harper told The Inter-Mountain Thursday that the Arden area of the county was hit the hardest Tuesday night.
“The Arden area got it again, from what the residents say it wasn’t near as bad as the Saturday event that they experienced, but there was some repeat damage to the roadways that had already been repaired,” Harper said. “So DOH is working on re-repairing those areas, but as far as the rest of the county, a lot of the issues we had was from the rivers flooding.”
Harper provided an update on several of the roads along the Buckhannon River in the Boulder and Carrollton areas that have been impassable due to high water.
“The Buckhannon River Road is now passable, we were able to get a vehicle out of the road that was stranded,” Harper said. “We got that road open and we are going to get some supplies to some of those folks, but we haven’t made it any further than that at this point.”
Harper said he expects some other roads that were still impassable to be open sometime on Friday. He also said Mon Power and the City of Philippi worked tirelessly around the clock and have reduced countywide power outages from 35% without power to 3%, leaving about 225 customers still awaiting restoration.
The Chestnut Ridge PSD has restored water service to all but two customers in its service area. Those customers remain under a boil water advisory until further notice.
The Barbour County OEM spent time Thursday conducting damage assessments throughout the county. Residents are urged to do a damage assessment as well and can do so by calling 211 or filling out a survey that is posted on The Barbour County OEM Facebook page.
“It’s extremely important for people to take that survey,” Harper said. “They can go online and do it or dial 211 and they will be able to walk them through on the phone of how to complete that survey. The survey helps track damage and that’s how counties get federal funding for help.”
The Barbour County OEM also spent time Thursday developing cleanup and debris removal plans, coordinating debris pickup efforts, and working with OEM partners to provide health and safety assistance for residents whose homes or property were impacted by floodwaters. A social media post provided by the Barbour County OEM thanked those who have helped in the county’s recovery efforts.
“Thank you to all of our first responders, utility crews, road crews, volunteers, and partner agencies for their dedication over the past several days,” the post stated. “Not only to our communities but throughout the state. Your support has been invaluable to our community.” Dumpsters were placed at the Arden Community Center and Clemtown Church on Thursday for residents to use in their cleanup efforts. Those who are unable to get debris to the dumpsters, they are being asked to place the debris 3 feet away from the roadway and arrangements will be made to pick it up in the near future.
“We are working on also getting some stuff said for the folks on the Buckhannon River Road, McGee Lane, Acorn Lane, and all the low-lying places along the river,” Harper said. “We want to get some stuff to them so they can get cleaned up and safer out there.”
Harper said the OEM is going to start working on a debris management plan for Barbour County.
“We’re going to get things like river debris cleaned up, trees and stuff that have gotten washed out,” Harper said. “We need to start working on trying to get some of that kind of stuff cleaned up.”
Harper said he wants to remind the residents of Barbour County to be on the lookout for additional resources in the coming days.
“We are working with the health department in trying to get some vaccine clinics set up in the communities that were affected by flooding,” Harper said. “Those will be for Tetanus, Hepatitis A, and Hepatitis B, so we can make sure everyone is safe on that front. We are in the process of getting cleanup kits out to the communities in the Audra area affected by the most recent rain events.”
Residents needing assistance can call the Barbour County Office of Emergency Management at 304-457-5686